Property Management

Auctions, Sales, & Leases

The Maricopa County Real Estate Division is responsible for auctioning off excess lands owned by the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (District) or the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). "Excess lands" is defined as a piece of land or a "remnant" of a larger parcel, which the District or MCDOT has acquired as part of a project and is no longer needed by that Agency. Sign up for email updates from MCDOT.

Requirements

Prior to being made available for auction, the following agency requirements must be met.

The parcel must be classified as excess by the Excess Lands Committee of the Flood Control District of Maricopa County (District) or Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) and subsequently declared as excess by the FCD's or MCDOT's Board of Directors.

An appraisal of the excess land by an independent 3rd party appraiser will establish the value. The appraised value is the minimum bid at auction.

The excess land public auction must be advertised for a minimum of 30 days.

All excess land will be sold to the public via public auction, or to another government entity for public purpose.

Excess Land Auction Process

To
successfully purchase excess lands from MCDOT or the District,
prospective buyers must follow the Real Estate Division's auction
process.

Prospective buyers need to submit an Auction Request Form (PDF) to the Property Management Branch of the Real Estate Division. This form states your intent to purchase the subject property at public auction and your willingness to submit a Fee Reimbursement to bring the property to public auction. The Fee Reimbursement typically covers appraisal and title reports is and can vary from $1,000 - $5,000. This Fee Reimbursement will be collected prior to an appraisal or title reports being ordered.

The Real Property Management will verify that the subject property is no longer needed by the Agency. This is accomplished by initiating an Agency-wide request for approval where all divisions within the Agency agree that the parcel is no longer needed and can be offered for sale at public auction.

If the Agency determines that the subject property is not needed, the Agency requests the appropriate Board declare the subject property as excess. Once declared excess by the appropriate Board, Property Management will request the Fee Reimbursement from the prospective buyer. Once the Fee Reimbursement is received, the appraisal and title reports will be ordered.

The appraisal takes up to 90 days. After the appraisal is received, reviewed and approved by Agency, the prospective buyer is informed of the minimum bid required at auction and auction date. The bid package will be prepared by and posted on the Agency’s web site, and legal advertisement for the auction will be placed.

A bid package containing details of the subject property, requirements to bid at auction and the terms and conditions of the sale will be prepared and available to all prospective buyers who request it.

On the day of the auction, an auction deposit of 10 percent of the minimum bid (unless otherwise published) plus the amount of the Fee Reimbursement in the form of cashier’s check is required to be recognized as a bidder. Unsuccessful bidders will have their auction deposits/fees returned to them after the auction has concluded. Prospective buyers will forfeit the entire Fee Reimbursement amount if they choose to not meet the minimum bid requirements and no one else bids at the auction.

Auction day requirements may vary. The bid package for each auction is the controlling document and determines the specific requirements.

The successful bidder is responsible for the appraisal cost and half the cost of the title report at close of escrow. Overpayment of the Fee Reimbursement will be applied towards the purchase price of the property. Escrow typically closes within 90 days from auction date; the bid package specifies the timeframe.